It is of the utmost importance that we accurately distinguish between sin in the flesh, and sin on the conscience. It' we confound these two, our souls must, necessarily, be unhinged, and our worship marred. An attentive consideration of 1st John 1:88He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (John 1:8)—10, will throw much light upon this Subject, the understanding of which is so essential.
There is no one who will be so conscious of indwelling sin, as the man who walks in the light. It we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." In the verse immediately recoiling, we read, " the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from sin." Here the distinction between sin in us, and sin on us, is fully brought out and established. To say that there is sin on the believer, in the presence of God. is to call in question the purging efficacy of the blood of Jesus, and to deny- the truth of the divine record. If the blood of Jesus can perfectly purge, then the believer's conscience is perfectly purged. The word of God thus puts the matter; and we must ever remember that it is from God Himself we are to learn what the true condition of tire believer' is, in His sight. We are more disposed to be occupied in telling God what we are in ourselves than to allow Him to tell us what we are in Christ,. In other words, we are more taken nip with our own self-consciousness, than with God's revelation of Himself. God speaks to us on the ground of what lie is in Himself and of what He has accomplished. in Christ. Such is the nature and character of His revelation, of which faith takes hold, and thus fills the soul with perfect peace. God's revelation is one thing; my consciousness is quite another.
But the same word which tells us we have no sin on us, tells us, with equal force and clearness, that we have sin in us. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Every one who has truth" ill him, will know that he has "sin," in him, likewise; for truth reveals everything as it is. What, then, are we to do? It is our privilege so to walk in tine power of the new nature, that the -sin" which dwells in us may not manifest itself' ill the form of "sins," The Christian’s position is one of victory and liberty. He is not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but also from sin as a ruling principle in his lire. " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified- with him, that tire body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin... let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof... For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Rom. 6:6-146Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:6‑14).) Sin is there in all its native vileness, but the believer is "dead" to it. How? He died in Christ. By nature he was dead inn. sin. By grace he is dead to it. What claim can anything or any one have upon 'a dead man? None whatever. Christ "died unto sin once," and the believer died in Him. "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no-more, death hath no more dominion. over him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God." What is the result of this, in reference to believers? "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto slit, but alive unto God through Jesus -Christ our Lord." Such is tire believer's unalterable position before God! so that it is his holy privilege to enjoy freedom from sin as a ruler over him, though it be a dweller in him.
But, then, if any man sin," what is to he done? The inspire.] apostle furnishes -a full and most blessed answer: "If We-confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1st John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9).) Confession is the "mode in which the conscience is to be kept free. The apostle does not say, It we pray tor pardon, He is gracious and merciful to forgive us." No doubt, it is ever happy for a child to breathe the sense of need into his father's ear-to tell him of feebleness, to confess folly, infirmity and failure. All this is mast true; awl, moreover, it is equally true that our rather is most gracious and merciful to meet His children in all their weakness and ignorance; but, while all this is true the Holy Ghost declares, by the apostle, that, if we confess," God is "faithful just to forgive." Confession, therefore, is the divine mode. A christian, having erred in thought, word, or deed, might pray for pardon, for days and months together, and not have -any assurance, from l John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9), that he was forgiven; whereas, the moment he truly confesses his sin, before God, it is a simple matter of faith to know that he is perfectly forgiven and perfectly cleansed.
There is an immense moral difference between praying for forgiveness, and confessing our sins, whether we look at it in reference to the character of God, the sacrifice of Christ, or the condition of' the soul. It is quite possible that a person's -prayer may involve the confession of his sin, whatever it may happen to be, and thus come to the same thing. But then, it is always well to keep close to scripture, in what we think, and say and do. It must be" evident that when the Holy Ghost speaks of confession, He does not mean praying. And it is equally evident that He knows there are moral elements in, and practical results flowing out of, confession, which do not belong to prayer. In point of fact, one has often found that a habit of importuning God for the forgiveness of -sins, displayed ignorance as to the way in which God has revealed Himself m the Person and work of Christ; as to the relation in which the sacrifice of Christ has set the believer displayed ignorance as to the getting the conscience relieved from the burden, and purified from the evil of sin.
God has been perfectly satisfied. as to all the believer's sins, in the cross of Christ. On that cross, a full atonement was presented for every jot and tittle of sin, in the believer's nature and on his conscience. Hence, therefore, God does not need any further propitiation. He does not need aught to draw His heart toward the believer. We do not require to supplicate Him to be "faithful and just," when His faithfulness and justice have been so gloriously displayed, vindicated and answered, in the death of Christ. Our sins can never come into GA's presence, inasmuch as Christ who bore them all, and 'put them away, is there instead. But, if we sin, conscience will feel it, must feel it; yea, the Holy Ghost will make us feel it. He cannot allow so much as a single light thought to pass unjudged. What then? Has our sin made its way into the presence of God? has it found its place in the unsullied light of the inner sanctuary? God forbid! The " Advocate" is there-" Jesus Christ the righteous," to maintain, in unbroken integrity, the relationship in which we stand. But though sin cannot affect God's thoughts in reference—to us, it can and does affect our thoughts in reference to Him.
Though it cannot make its way into God's presence, it can make its way into ours, in a most distressing and humiliating manlier. Though it cannot hide the Advocate from God's view, it can hide Him from ours. It gathers, like a thick dark cloud, on our spiritual, horizon, so that our souls cannot bask in the blessed beams of our Father's countenance. It cannot affect our relationship with God, but it can very seriously affect our enjoyment there of.
What, therefore, are we to do? The word answers, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." By confession, we get our conscience cleared; the sweet sense of our relationship restored; the dark cloud dispersed; the chilling, withering influence removed; our thoughts of God set straight. Such is the divine method; and we may truly say, that the heart that knows what it is to have ever been in the place of confession, will feel the divine ' power of the apostle's words, " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." (1st John 2:11And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: (John 2:1).)
Then, again, there is a style of praying for forgiveness. which involves a losing sight of the perfect ground of forgiveness, which has been laid in the sacrifice of the cross. If God forgives sins, lie must be " faithful and just," in so doing. But it is quite clear that our prayers, be they-ever so sincere and earnest, could not form the basis of God's faithfulness and justice, in forgiving us our, sins. Naught save the work of the cross could do this. There the faithfulness and justice of God have had their fullest establishment, and that, too, in immediate reference to our actual sins, as well as to the root thereof, in our nature. God has already judged our sins, in the Person of our Substitute, " on the tree;" awl, in the act of confession, we judge ourselves. This is essential to divine forgiveness and restoration. The very smallest Unconfessed, unjudged sin, on the conscience, will entirely mar our communion with God. Sin in us need not do this, but, if we suffer sin to remain on us, we cannot have fellowship with God. Be has put away our sins in such a manlier as that He can have us in His presence; and, so long as we abide in His presence, sin does not trouble us. But, if we get out of His presence, and commit sin, in thought, our communion must of necessity be suspended, until, by confession, we have got rid of the sin. All this. I need hardly add, is founded exclusively upon the perfect sacrifice and righteous advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, as to the difference between prayer and confession, as respects the condition of the heart before God, and its moral sense of the hatefulness of sin, it cannot possibly be overestimated. It is a much easier thing to ask in a general way for the forgiveness of our sins, than to confess those sins. Confession involves self judgment; asking for forgiveness may not, and in itself does not. This alone would be sufficient to point out the difference. Self judgment is one of the most valuable and healthful exercises of the christian life; and, therefore, anything which produces-it, must be highly esteemed by every earnest Christian.
The difference between asking for pardon, and confessing the sin, is continually exemplified in dealing with children. If a child has done anything wrong, he finds much less difficulty in asking his father to forgive him, than in openly and unreservedly confessing the wrong. In asking for forgiveness, the child may have in his mind a number of things which tend to lessen the sense of the evil; he may be secretly thinking that he was not so much to blame after all, though to be sure it is only proper to ask his father to forgive him; whereas, in confessing the wrong, there is just the one thing, and that is self judgment. Further, ill asking for forgiveness, the child may be influenced mainly by a desire to escape the consequences of his wrong; whereas a judicious parent will seek to produce a just sense of its moral evil, which can only exist in connection with the full confession of the fault in connection with self judgment.
Thus it is in reference to God's dealings with His children, when they do wrong. He must have the whole thing brought out and thoroughly judged. He will make us not only dread the consequences of sin-which are unutterable-but hate the thing itself, because of its hatefulness in His sight. Were it possible for us, when we commit sin, to be forgiven merely for the asking, our sense of sin, and our shrinking from it, would not nearly so intense; and, as a consequence, our estimate of the fellowship with which we are blessed would not be nearly so high. The moral effect of all this upon the general tone of our spiritual Constitution, and also upon our whole character and practical career, must be obvious to every experienced christian. C. H. M.